I hesitantly took a seat in one of the surprisingly comfortable green chairs. The redhead, Peyton, didn’t even bother listening to her grandfather’s request. She barely moved from her crossed arms stance which allowed me to get a really good look at her.
She couldn’t have been much older than 25 and was very apparently pretty. She was the kind of pretty that made me want to hide my own face just to make sure no one would compare us both.
“This is ridiculous Eros!” Peyton shouted after a minute throwing her arms up in the air before falling back into the chair. “Let’s hurry up and get this over with then.”
Eros sent a glaring look toward his granddaughter before he turned his attention to me/ “Avena, we have become aware of your recently acquired living arrangements.”
I stared at him for a minute before I translated for him. “I’m currently living on Earth.”
“Right,” Eros agreed as I understood what he was saying. “It has come to our attention and we believe that it is time to engage in your life. In other words, guide you along in your love life.”
I raised one of my eyebrows. “You want to match me up with someone?”
“Not just someone,” Eros said emphasizing the word as if it were a cursed word. “Your soul mate!”
I believe I saw Peyton roll her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest once again but she didn’t comment.
“I don’t need help,” I disagreed quickly. “I’m not Earth to work on my love life. I just want to be a normal college student. I don’t need all the pressure of ‘falling in love’ and all that crap.”
Eros looked offended but it was actually Peyton who spoke next. “It’s not crap as unreal as it sounds. Look, love is never convenient so whether you like it or not, we’re going to be hanging around you a lot.”
Eros glanced at Peyton for a moment. “We will do nothing of the sort.” Both Peyton and I raised our eyebrows in surprise and waited for him to explain. “I will not be handling this case. Peyton, I believe you can handle this one all by yourself.”
“What?” Peyton practically yelled standing from the chair. I will say that it made me kind of feel…unwanted.
“It appears that you two will be spending a lot of time together,” Eros proclaimed with a knowing smile. A silent exchange took place between them and although I could have spied, I stayed away from their minds. After a minute, Peyton sat back down exhaling loudly and turned away from me. I seriously wondered what her deal was.
“Alright then, it’s settled.” Eros turned halfway in his chair as if that was his signal to end the conversation.
“Whoa!” I stated while standing to draw the attention to me. “Do I not get a say in this?”
Eros turned his chair back around and waited for me to go on. “This is unfair to me. What if I decided that I don’t want your help? I don’t want to find my soul mate or whatever.”
“We’re here to help and sadly we can’t go away,” Peyton answered but it sounded mechanical as if she had said it many times before.
I faltered a moment trying to figure out a way to make this not happen. I couldn’t help myself as I blurted, “I already have a boyfriend!”
Eros smiled like he was prepared for the answer. He grabbed the file that I had handed him earlier and opened it wide. Inside was a headshot of myself and attached by a paperclip next to it was a headshot of Logan. I sat back down in the chair dumbfounded wondering what kind of creep this Cupid guy was.
“We keep tabs on all Immortals,” Eros explained before I could ask. He leaned forward on his desk and looked at me seriously. “Relationships can always be broken off. It’s always a real tragedy but it happens every day just as a new relationship is born that is destined to last forever.”
“Does he always talk like this?”
“Unfortunately,” Peyton commented scaring me a little since she was closer to me than I had expected.
Eros stood and took my file and walked over to a seemingly random filing cabinet. “Whatever happens about your current relationship is entirely up to Peyton and yourself. If that’s all you’re wondering about then I believe we are-”
“Wait!” I cut him off eager not to let this happen. “I haven’t agreed to this! Why am I being picked? I’m sure there are millions of mortals who need to find their true love, right?”
“I have many workers around the world. Peyton is one of many and I have assigned her especially to you,” Eros explained.
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask which earned me a hard stare from the girl sitting next to me.
Eros laughed at Peyton’s expression. “She has had plenty experience dealing with Immortals. I can’t think of anyone better qualified to help you on your mission.”
I sighed trying to stall for time. “Why now? I’ve been on Olympus for a while so why all of sudden?”
“You are down on Earth,” Eros answered as if it were obvious. When I didn’t immediately respond he leaned forward. “Your soul mate does not live on Olympus or even Olympia Lane. You are going to have to search down on Earth under the guidance of my granddaughter of course.”
I opened my mouth ready to argue when I stopped short. “Have you spoken to Athena about this?”
Eros shrugged. “I’ve mentioned it to her though she has been very distracted lately.”
I nodded as my brain formulated a plan. “Okay, so let me get this straight: I have to stay down on Earth at least until I find my soul mate guy and Peyton would walk me through it right?”
Eros nodded in agreement. “And how long could this search for my right guy take?”
Peyton shrugged and mumbled, “Anywhere from three months to three years depending on the person."
I couldn’t help the smile that grew over my face. “Perfect!”
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I opened the front door to Athena’s house with a huge smile on my face. My mother rounded the corner of the hallway and looked at me expectantly. I walked over and gave her a hug which she returned. When I pulled away, her grey eyes searched my face confused.
“I have to stay on Earth for a while longer,” I announced not letting the topic slip away. My mother’s half of a smile fell into a full frown.
“Why do you say that?” Athena walked away from me and into our living room. I followed behind shrugging off my jacket and throwing it on a nearby couch. Once my mother took a seat on one of our couches, I stood in front of her ready to explain.
“Eros said that I am his granddaughter’s next client and it’s her job to find my soul mate.”
Athena seemed unaffected by the news. “Why must you be on Earth for her to do this?”
“My soul mate person isn’t in Olympus. She has to help me find him because he’s somewhere on Earth.” I was desperate for her to see reason.
My mother mauled this information over before sadly asking, “Is looking for this person really important to you?”
Not as important as my freedom. “Yes, of course,” I lied easily. I realized that I had been doing a lot of that lately.
Athena looked down to the floor seemingly deep in thought before finally sighing. “I don’t like the idea of you alone on Earth.”
I groaned as I walked over and sunk into the opposite couch. I couldn’t win in this argument, could I?
“That’s why Polias is going to be watching over you.”
I sat up straight on the couch suddenly alert. “WHAT?”
Athena nodded in confirmation. “I feel much more comfortable knowing that there is a watchful eye on you.”
I hugged myself and rubbed my forearms suddenly feeling a little uneasy about the fact that my mother could know about everything I did just because she would have one of her spies looking out for me.
“Polias can keep a close eye on you easier than I could. He will blend in with the surroundings as well,” Athena added when I didn’t say anything.
“Yeah, because a wild snowy white owl will never draw heads in New Jersey,” I mumbled.
Athena shot me a hard glare. Polias was her prized owl and I knew I should be honored to get him as my stalker but sadly I wasn’t. Back in the older days in Greece, Athena was known as Athena Polias which meant ‘Athena of the city’. It’s common Greek knowledge that one of Athena’s symbols is an owl and Polias was her oldest and wisest one.
“That is the only option I am allowing Avena,” my mother announced. “It’s either that or staying here on Olympus.”
“Okay,” I agreed quickly. “Let your bird watch my every move only to report back to you. I don’t care as long as you’re allowing me to go.”
Athena looked at me probably wondering if I was going crazy. After a minute though, she nodded. “I want you home every weekend and on all holidays.”
“Mom,” I whined. “Isn’t that a bit extreme? I mean, I’m going to college for the whole social experience.”
My mother’s expression turned to one that no human person would ever dare think about crossing but I couldn’t help it.
“Fine,” Athena bit out. “Every other weekend and only the important holidays.”
I smiled to myself for winning the argument. “Deal!” I walked over and gave her a huge embrace with an equally large grin. “Thank you so much Mommy!”
Athena huffed something along the lines of, ‘Don’t make me regret this,’ but I was too happy to care. Finally, everything was starting to look up.
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I inserted my key into my apartment door and wasted no time in swinging it wide open. I shut the door with my foot and tossed the keys on the nearest table. I shrugged off my jacket and threw it over a chair before I walked into my living room and fell onto my couch.
I rested on the sofa for a few moments in silence while staring up at my ceiling. Then all of a sudden, I was filled with such excitement that I had to squeal like a high school girl. It was Sunday afternoon and my mother sent me back down to Earth. It was to her disappointment but to my excitement. I just couldn’t seem to wait to get back to school…or maybe it was something else?
I sighed and closed my eyes as I sunk deeper into my sofa and muttered, “It’s good to be home.”
“Isn’t it?”
I was so frighten by the unwelcomed voice that I sat up so quickly and fell off the couch. I hit the floor with a loud and hard thump! I lifted myself up slowly and silently cursing at the newly acquired pain in my rear.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I regained my balanced and faced my intruder.
Peyton smiled at me while she took off her coat and made herself comfortable in a house that was clearly not her own. “You heard Eros. It looks like we are going to be spending a lot of time together.”
I gaped at her for a few minutes wondering if she was serious. “How did you even get into my house?”
“It was unlocked,” Peyton said simply with a shrug of her shoulders. “I never understand why people feel so comfortable with leaving their doors open.”
I sat back down on my couch hesitantly before I ran a hand through my dirty blonde hair.
It seems that not everything was starting looking up.
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Author's Note: Seems like Peyton is going to be sticking around for a while now. Be sure to vote or comment if you have a moment. Thanks!